


The Sound of Guitar Strings

by VesperKnight



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Yukimaru Takemichi, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I blame sagscrib, I made Kuwata Leon/Yukimaru Takemichi a tag, I will get back to that eventually, M/M, Michi was there to see the crash happen, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Kuwata Leon, This has nothing to do with PAGS, Trans Kuwata Leon, Trans Male Character, Trans Yukimaru Takemichi, let me have this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27031321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VesperKnight/pseuds/VesperKnight
Summary: Michi agrees to go into the program to see him again, although he’s not as ready as he thought he was when he finally sees him and he hears the soft sound of guitar strings being played.
Relationships: Kuwata Leon/Yukimaru Takemichi, Oowada Mondo & Yukimaru Takemichi, Oowada Mondo/Yukimaru Takemichi (brief mention), Yukimaru Takemichi/Kuwata Leon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Sound of Guitar Strings

**Author's Note:**

> I blame sagscrib and his Dreamland fic for this idea  
> Also the tags are not wrong in this Leon is trans and Michi is as well but Leon is nonbinary while Michi is genderfluid but Michi will still be referring to Leon as a he!

He looks over at Taichi one last time before looking over at Kanon who meets his eyes and she looks so sad and worried, he supposes she might be worried about him but she could also be worried about actually facing him again… he doesn’t know… all he knows is he feels like he’s ready to see him again so he lays down and let’s Taichi hook him up and let’s the darkness pull him in.

* * *

The door comes into view before him and he looks at the name place for the longest time not realizing that his hand is tracing over every detail of the picture on it, not realizing that he’s stalling the inevitable before he feels tears pricking at his eyes and he does his best to try and stop them, after all he’d done up his makeup just like he’d said he liked it the most and he doesn’t want to ruin it before he can even see him. His hand finds the handle to the door and he takes a deep breath before he turns the handle and the opening of the door feels like it takes years to happen but once it’s open he’s greeted with a sight he never thought he’d see again, it’s not the dorm that he had in the god awful game… it’s the apartment they used to share before all of this happened… and fuck… there he is sitting on the balcony strumming away at his guitar smiling as he’s singing a song and he knows instantly which one it is… it’s the one about him and he feels like his heart stops for a bit as he has to choke back the urge to sob. He looks just like he remembered him, hair done up in it’s usual lion mane style, the back grown up a bit and in soft curls almost giving him a feminine look, soft red eyeliner making his stunning baby blues stand out that much more, eyelashes a little longer than most softly curled upwards to give that slight hint at femininity, and god they seemed to have even got his freckles right. He’s wearing his typical jewelry and he’s got the piercings he remembers so well, and his nails are painted to match his eyes just like he remembers, hell he’s even wearing his punk get up that also give off a slight feminine feel to it, fuck he forget how well he pulls off the look of being both genders at once. He diverts his eyes down to himself for a bit to look himself over reminding himself that he’s currently not really feeling like a gender right now, hell he’s not entirely sure if it’s just him not really feeling much of anything anymore or if he’s actually feeling this way right now, but when he thinks on it a bit more he has felt like a male at times since… he let’s the thought drift off as he looks back up at the man sitting on the balcony and he wonders for a moment if he should really do this, but then again he did talk to the AI they’d made of Mondo about this and he seemed pretty stubborn on getting him to do this. He sighs letting himself think back onto his visit with the AI they’d made of Mondo for a little bit letting the sound of the guitar bring him into the memory gently as it almost seemed to put him at ease like it had done all those years ago.

* * *

The door had his picture on it and he thought about not going in at all but he had gone into this simulation to see him again and to ask him a very important question so he can’t just chicken out now when he’s this close to finally getting an answer to the question that’s been eating at him all day and distracting him from his work. He opens the door and pushes it open a little surprised to find himself in the apartment he’d spend a great deal of his childhood in after his foster parents kicked him out, and of course he’s standing out on the balcony, they’d gotten the embroidery on his jacket right even and he remembers for a moment when they were making him a jacket and how he insisted he could make it himself but they wouldn’t give in. Daiya was the one who had sown the pattern into the short black jacket that they’d gotten him only a few weeks ago while Mondo is holding him back from stopping Daiya, and for the moment in the memory he remembers how he didn’t really mind being so close to Mondo because at the time he thought he was in love with Mondo. It would be a few years after that that the race happened and Daiya died and he decided he should come clean to Mondo about his feelings only to have Mondo shoot him down as gently as he could since yeah he loved him just not in that way and it took him so long to get over that. But then the thought of  _ him _ comes to his mind and he flushes… right… that’s why he’s here, because of  _ him _ . He approaches Mondo and goes to stand beside him noticing that he’s smoking, a habit he’d picked up after Daiya died, he could never convince him to stop and he’s almost certain his boyfriend… he stops himself there, he’s not here to think about that or ask about that, he’s here for  _ him _ and he needs to focus on that. “I’s been a while hasn’t it?” fuck he sounded exactly like he remembered, accent, slur and all and he flushes just slightly, “Yeah… shit’s been tough since…” his voice trails off “But we’re doin’ what we can ya know?” he asks and the other man hums at that “Tha’s good to hear, have ya ya know…?” he left the question unfinished but he got what he meant and he stiffens at that considerably clutching onto the balcony railing harshly as the image of… he covers his mouth trying to keep himself from throwing up and a firm hand is on his back and a worried voice is in his ear “Woah kid, are ya okay? Do ya need to sit down?” he asks, his smoke completely forgotten in favor of trying to find out what’s up, he shakes his head as he shakes “N-No… i’m fine…” he says catching his breath as he comes back to reality slowly and the man beside him and the worry etched into his face and for the first time since he’s come into this he notices how he smells and fuck they had even gotten that right. “‘M sorry if I brought up a bad memory for ya, I didn’t mean ta do that to ya kid, i’s just I thought ya’d go and see’em the first chance ya got since ya know…” he says letting the sentence hang in the air there, once again he didn’t need to finish it for him to know what he’s asking. He laughs at that softly “I’ve thought ‘bout it but…” his voice drifts off as his mind trails back to- “Ya should really go see’em… it might not be’em physically like with me but…” “At least i’d get to see’em again? No thanks I see’em enough in my nightmares I think i’m goin’ to pass” Mondo frowns deeply at that and the blonde looks away. “Michi…” fuck he knew that tone of voice and he flinches expecting a harsh scolding but instead he’s greeted with a firm hug and god it felt like he’s right there with him and that’s all it takes for the damn to break and for him to be crying, a strong hand rubbing his back and a comforting voice hushing him and telling him that it’s okay and he gets it as he shakes harshly as he sobs clutching onto the only thing that had mattered to him before  _ him _ . It’s a while before he composes himself enough to pull back and clean his face off pouting when he remembers that he must look like a racoon right now since he’s sure he’s destroyed his makeup with that crying fit, and a hearty laugh pulls him out of his thoughts as he looks up at Mondo scowling “Oi! Don’t ya fuckin’ laugh at me like that ya asshole!” he spits, not really angry, just embarrassed. “Sorry kid i’s just that I noticed how long ya had done yar lines and couldn’t help but almost get mad before rememberin’... ya know” he says with a shrug and he huffs a sigh looking down at the floor, “Do they let you and his AI interact? Does it feel like ya never…” he asks and Mondo seems a bit surprised by that before smiling fondly “Yeah they let me see’em… it still feels like’em despite… ya know… it almost makes me forget…” he says fondly and he nods at that biting at his lip wondering if it will feel like that with him. “Ya should really go see’em… he misses ya… me and’em have briefly talked before and well… he was worried that ya would never come to see’em and fuck… ya shoulda seen how fuckin’ sad he looked sayin’ that… and how he seemed to crumble when he learned me and Taka got to talk… I told’em that ya’d probably come see me first to scared to come see’em and how i’d do what I could to get ya to go see’em and god… ya shoulda seen just how his eyes lit up like the sun at that… point is ya should go see’em, I know it’s gonna be hard and it won’t really be’em and there’s nothin’ ya can do to change that but… he still loves ya just like he did before… and I know damn well ya still love’em to… so please… go see’em… okay?” Mondo says and he takes in a shaky deep breath before preparing himself “Okay” he looks up from the floor to Mondo who’s smiling that smile he remembers all to well “I’ll go see’em, but I just wanted to let ya know that…” he chuckles “They got ya spot on, don’t ever let’em do anything to ya” and with that he turned and made his way out.

* * *

Now here he is before the man he’s been avoiding for so long still playing at his guitar sitting on the balcony like he’d done so many countless times in the past, he huffs a sigh before finally walking over and fuck… he could already smell him and god… he smelled just as good as he remembered, he also caught the faint smell of himself as well and he supposes that’s because the man before him is wearing one of his old shirts he’d given him. He lets himself remember the countless nights he’d spend cuddling into the man’s chest taking in his scent and fuck if he didn’t miss that, he hadn’t even noticed he’d moved to burry his face into the man’s chest until he felt and heard him chuckle and a hand run through his hair. “I was startin’ to wonder if Mondo was serious about gettin’ ya to come see me but fuck if i’m glad you’re here, you did your makeup just like I remember it huh?” he asks and it chips away at the damn and he has to steel himself as he pulls away to look up into those baby blues so full of love and there’s that stupid doofy love struck smirk on his face and fuck he wants to kiss him so badly to see if they got they way he taste right. But he’s not given the chance before those soft wonderful lips are meeting his own and fuck… it felt just like he remembered it did, like he is on fire but at the same time he’s not and the only thing that matters in this moment is the man the lips belong to, he can’t stop himself from grabbing onto his shirt pulling him deeper into the kiss pulling him off the balcony railing and almost sending them both to the floor if it weren’t for the fact that the other had caught them both on the balcony doorway with one hand and the other holding him from falling to the floor and for a moment he wishes this was just another day where the man would sweep him off his feet and carry him to the bed and remind him of all the ways he loves him but he’s brought back to harsh reality when the man pulls back and he can’t stop the tears that start to flow. He buries his face into that warm familiar neck as he begins to sob and sob hard his hands clutching tightly onto the shirt of the man he’s having such a hard time living without, and he wishes so hard right now that he can just stay here forever and never have to go back to the just real world because he doesn’t get how he’s made it this long or how he can go on after this. A familiar comforting hand rubs his back as the other gently rests in his hair and there’s the soft humming he remembers to fondly and is like a sharp reminder that this isn’t real and that he’s not really here right now and he will never be real and he can’t undo what has already been done and that makes his sobbing that much worse. It’s a long time before he finally pulls away but he refuses to meet his eyes unsure if he can handle that right now as he lets his hand start tracing over the binder under the other man’s shirt that he’d given him what felt like a lifetime ago now, it had been a birthday present and to this day he still can’t forget the smile that had come across the other man’s face that day. “So… did ya come here just to ogle at my pecs the whole time or some shit? I mean am I that awful to look at?” he jokes so easily like he’d done all of those times before and it never failed to make him smile much like it doesn’t fail to make him smile softly. He looks up meeting those baby blues once more and this time it doesn’t feel like he’s about to crumble in front of the other man once again, “Sorry… it’s just…” he lets his voice drift off for a bit and the other man patiently waits for him to continue like he’d done in the past and he wonders if they got anything wrong and that stings. He looks away before continuing “It’s been so hard without you… and I know what you did was in self defense and I just… wish I could of done  _ something _ to prevent this and every time I think about what I could’ve done differently that might’ve prevented this I start to hate myself more and more and-” he’s silenced by a soft kiss “Rosebud you’re going to work yourself into a panic attack if you keep goin’ I get it, it’s really rough on ya and I expected that it was considerin’ ya hadn’t come to see me till now and even then I had to get Mondo to convince ya to come. Look I know this isn’t easy and ya feel bad but there’s not a whole lot ya could’ve done to prevent this so please don’t beat yourself up over it, ya know how much I hate to see ya cry after all, ‘sides someone’s gotta look after that cranky old man eh?” he says teasingly as ever. He huffs a heavy sigh taking one of those wonderful lightly freckled hands into his own “Ya, he’d probably burn the apartment down if I didn’t keep such a close eye on’em” he says trying to joke and fuck if his heart didn’t stop as that laugh he so loved and missed filled the air and remind him that much more of what he’s lost. “Knowin’em he probably would, I heard him and Taka had a pretty pleasant talk, or at least that’s what Mondo said about it anyways” the other man says with a shrug and he hums nodding at that “I figured as much, he seemed pretty happy when I come out from talkin’ to Mondo, I beat he’s probably worrying his ass of right now about me bein’ in here with ya” he says with a soft chuckle and the other man frowns slightly at that “Why? He afraid i’m hotter than he is or somethin?” the other man says with a cocky grin and he can’t help but let out a loud laugh at that imagining Takaaki’s reactions if he could hear that comment. After he calms down from his laughing fit he looks back up at the other man a soft smile still on his lips “Well… I should probably get back… it was nice seein’ ya again though” he says and the other man grins cheekily “Ya better come back here soon or i’ma find a way to chase your ass till ya do!” the other man barks as he makes his way to the door and he can’t help but chuckle at that. Once he’s at the door he puts his hand on the handle before looking back one last time at the man standing there, the setting sun making him almost look like a phoenix rising from the ashes and he can’t help but smile broadly at that remembering the phoenix tattoo on his back and how he’d gotten it to resemble how the old him was dead and the new him was here now and how that came to mean so much more to him. “Hey Leon” the sound of him using his first name brings a look of surprise across the other man’s face “Yeah Michi?” Leon asks gently and he smirks “You really have risen from the ashes” he says and that smile he’d seen only a few times comes across Leon’s face as he turns the handle and goes to leave the image is still there of him standing in the sun looking like a freshly risen phoenix the happiest look on his face, it’s that image that is the last thing he sees before the darkness claims him once more.

* * *

He opens his eyes and sits up to see of course Takaaki standing nearby and Taichi asking a ton of questions that he ignores as he recalls the image of Leon standing there on the balcony and a smile plays across his lips and the questions stop as both of the men before him looked confused sharing confused looks before turning to look back towards him and he doesn’t care as he gets up from the bed adjusting the jacket around his shoulders taking in it’s scent smiling even more at the image confusing the two men even more. It’s not till he notices Kanon is there as well that he breaks out of his stupor and looks at the tree people surrounding him with looks of concern and confusion and also worry etched into all of their faces but that doesn’t stop him from grinning. “So… I take it that it went well?” of course Takaaki was the first one to pipe up, after all they’d become kind of like a father and son since this whole thing and they got to know more about each other and he lets out a hearty laugh at that, “Yeah it went well” he says letting the blush creep across his cheeks “You were in there for a very long time we were all starting to worry that you might not ever come back out…” Taichi says and he snickers at that “And leave Takaaki to burn down my apartment? I think not” he retorts and Takaaki looks offended for a moment before a slight smile cracks onto his lips along with a chuckle “I’m glad you have such faith in my cooking abilities, I did take care of…” his voice drifts for a moment before “My son for most of his life after all” and the blonde grins wider at that proud to hear Takaaki talk about Taka freely almost, sure it hurt to be reminded of them but he feels like talking about them and getting used to saying their names in reference to them even if it really stings is just all part of the healing process. He looks towards Kanon who hasn’t said a word this whole time and he swallows thickly as she looks pretty upset and angry and he’s not sure why “So… he told me everything…” she says and he mentally prepares himself for whatever she has to say next, but what he wasn’t expecting was for her to throw herself at him and hug him and begin crying freaking him out. “Ah! W-What’s this ‘bout?” he asks wearily and she clutches onto him tightly “I don’t get how you can just be so okay with it all! He’s dead and we can never bring him back! And he loved you! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!” she spits pulling away so he can see the tears pouring down her face and he looks at her confused and unsure how to answer that as he looks over to Takaaki for help and he seems about as curious as Kanon “You know, she has a point, you seem awfully happy after having declined seeing him for so long” he comments and he frowns at that as he looks back at Kanon before huffing a sigh reminding himself of the image of Leon on the balcony as it reminds him that he can do this. “I mean ya I miss him and ya I know he’s dead and all and nothin’ we do can bring’em back and all and I know I fought for so long against seein’em but it was ‘cause I was afraid that if I did he wouldn’t be the way I remembered him or somethin’ like that but…” his voice trails off for a bit as he remembers the simulation and he smiles fondly “It’s so…  _ him _ … it was like he isn’t even gone at all… stupid shitty jokes and all, I know it’s not him physically or anythin’ like that and it’s just a bunch of numbers and code and junk but… it really felt like it was him and well… I think seein’em was exactly what I needed. I mean yeah i’m depressed he’s gone and I know i’m gonna miss’em even more now but… if I get to miss’em to much at least I can go in there and feel like he’s still here with me and that’s enough, it’s not much but it’s enough” he explains and everyone there looks surprised and shocked at his answer before fond smiles cross all of their faces and he is caught off guard when both Kanon and Takaaki bring him into a hug together and he doesn’t get why Takaaki explains. “We were so worried that once you went in there and talked to him that once you came out that you’d want to to just give up and be with him, but we’re so glad that you aren’t giving up” he says and Kanon speaks up next “Yeah, because if you weren’t this happy i’d have to kick your butt for him” she says and he laughs at that as they let him go and he smiles at the small family he’s made since this whole mess began “How ‘bout this? We all head back home and I make both of ya somethin’ to eat” he says before he’s heading out and they follow after him, but before they finally leave he looks back at the bed one last time letting the image come to him one more time of Leon before he finally leaves the building and he mounts his bike. And for a moment he imagines his hands firmly wrapped around him before he kicks up the stand and he’s racing down the streets a grin still firmly planted on his face, sure he was dead but he’d never truly be gone as long as he held onto all the memories they had together and that was good enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Please go check out sagscribs fics, he has destroyed me with Michi feels and I hate it but also live for it because this boy deserves the development and the love but also at the same time someone please protect this baby boy!  
> Also I really hope you like my take on this with my guilty pleasure rarepair


End file.
